Eight more COVID-19 cases in Jharkhand, count rises to 41

Eight more people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Jharkhand, taking the total in the state to 41, officials said on Sunday.

Of the fresh cases, six are in Ranchi and one each in Simdega and Dhanbad districts, they said.

Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Ranchi, Director Dr D K Singh said seven samples tested positive for the virus on Sunday, while Dhanbad Deputy Commissioner Amit Kumar said a railway trackman in the district tested positive on Saturday.

The state has recorded two fatalities so far, one each in Ranchi and Bokaro districts, Singh said.

The trackman working with the East Central Railways had visited his in-laws in neighbouring Bokaro district to meet his pregnant wife and returned to Dhanbad on a bicycle on March 26. He complained of fever the next day, health officials said.

The first positive case in Dhanbad was reported in Kumardhubi in Gyarahkhund block near the West Bengal border on April 8.

Ranchi topped the COVID-19 tally in the state with 24 cases so far, followed by nine in Bokaro, two each in Hazaribagh, Simdega and Dhanbad and one each in Koderma and Giridih districts.